FERRUM, Va. - Penn State Harrisburg's baseball team wrapped up its four-game series at Ferrum by splitting the final doubleheader of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 27. In a repeat of Saturday's outcomes, the Panthers took the opener 12-7 but the Blue & White bounced back with a decisive 12-6 victory in the nightcap. 

GAME 1 

The opener saw the Lions (1-2) jump out to an early lead but Ferrum's (5-2) offensive onslaught in the middle innings proved too much for the visitors to overcome. 

After Matt Parks launched a three-run home run over the fence in right field to give Penn State Harrisburg a 6-4 lead in the top of the fourth, the Panthers scored eight unanswered runs, including four in the bottom of the fifth inning, one in the sixth, and three in the seventh. 

Ryan McSorley put the Blue & White out in front just four at-bats into the game when he hit his first home run of the season; a three-run shot that plated Parks and Chase Smith with him. The visitors had an opportunity to do more damage in the first frame but a double play ended the threat. 

Ferrum got one back in the bottom of the opening stanza and pulled ahead thanks to a three-run third inning. 

GAME 2

For the second day in a row, Penn State Harrisburg shook off a game-one loss, scored a dozen runs in the second outing, and earned a doubleheader split with the Panthers. 

A big fifth inning extended an early Blue & White lead, as the visitors used four hits and a Ferrum error to put up four runs in the frame. Brendan Henn drove in Maddux Ryan and McSorley with a double to right center, while Drew Sassaman's bunt eventually plated Henn. Smith was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing Josh Lantz across with two away.

The home team cut the deficit to two after seven innings of play but Penn State Harrisburg answered back with a three-run eighth. Drew Bechtold earned an RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases full and Dallas Hite's clutch two-out single to right field drove in Matt Isaac and Lantz. 

McSorley brought Smith home with an RBI single in the ninth and Robbie Skinner capped things off by scoring on a wild pitch. 

NOTABLES

- Matt Parks and Ryan McSorley each drove in a team-high three runs thanks to three-run bombs in game one.

- Chase Smith went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored in the opener. 

- Hunter Merritt got the game-one start on the mound. Tyler Stanley, Dallas Gilbert, and Riley Blatt made relief appearances.

- Ferrum racked up seven extra-base hits in the first game.

- McSorley went 3-for-6 with a double and a pair of RBIs in game two.

- Dallas Hite drove in a team-best three runs in the nightcap. 

- Maddux Ryan was 2-for-3 with two doubles in the second outing. 

- Nick Fitzgerald got the start in game two, racking up six strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work.

WHO'S NEXT? 

The Lions face a tough test when they travel to Baltimore, Md. to take on No. 4 Johns Hopkins on Wednesday afternoon. 

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